Felt base material for adhesive attachment to surfaces and coating composition for same



Patented Feb. 1 1949 FE L'EBAS E MATERIAL FOR ADHESIVE AT- TAiJHMENT TO SURFACES AND COATING COMPOSITION FOR SAME Ralph- F. Seedorf', Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to Carthage Mills, 1110., Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio No Drawing; Application April 30, 1945, Serial No. 591,218

9 Claims. 1

My invention relatesto the provision of felt base materials to be joined to supporting surfaces by adhesive. By felt base materials, I mean surfacing, wall covering and floor covering'goods, usually with a decorative facing, but made on a base of felt or other fibrous material saturated with bitumen such as asphalt. The specific nae ture of the decorative face, if provided, is not a limitation on thisinvention. Common decorative facingsare those consisting of paints, frequently applied in a plurality of layers and in attractive, multicolored designs. Other surfacings, such as printed fibrous layers, linoleum compositions and the like are employable; and for some uses my materials maybe given a decorative facing after they have been applied to the supporting surfaces.

Theadhesive application of felt base goods to supporting surfaces has hitherto involved some serious problems. The felt base itself, being saturated with asphalt, will not bond with any but the so-called waterproof cements, usually resinous binders dissolved inorganic solvents, and donot always bondsatisfactorily even with such cements. Specifically; water glues have notv served to bind ordinary felt base materials to supporting surfaces,

The art has attacked the problem in various ways, as by providing on the reverse side of felt base goods a layer of the base itself which is unsaturated or only partially. saturated and is therefore porous, so as to form a better bond with the adhesives. Again, inthe manufactureof felt base materials, alayer of unsaturated fibrous material has been cemented in the factory'to the. reverse side of the felt base. Attempts have been made to coat the felt base at the" factory with adhesive substances satisfactorily bonded thereto in the process of manufacture, but capable of being reactivated by Water or organic solvents to adhere the felt base material. to the supporting surface.

All of these expedients have their disadvanr tages, whether of operability, expense, or convenience; and there has not hitherto been. produced any felt base product capable of being adhered to a supporting surface through the use of an adhesive applied on the job, and capable of being. so adhered with both Water type glues and waterproof cements, excepting products having porous, fibrous backings or layers. "One of the objects of my invention isto produce a product having a non-porous felt base of ordinary type, but so prepared an'dtreated; as to be capable of a firm bond.

2 adhesive union with surfaces by means of glues or cements of either type.

In cementing felt base materials to floors, walls, sink tops, articles of furniture and'the like, great diificulty has hitherto been had in making The applied materials develop blisters, usually within the first forty-eight hours after application; and there is no real cure for such a condition after it has developed. The development of blisters usually arises from a parting of the felt base from the adhesive, in

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spite of all of the precautions which may be taken. It is an object of my invention to provide a felt base product so treated as to give a firmer bond with any of the available. adhesives.

It is an object of my invention to provide a felt base product having its rear face coated with a layer of material which is not only firmly bonded to the felt base itself and to the bitumen therein, but forms a strong bond with glues or cements having either organic or inorganic vehicles.

These and other objects. of my invention, which will be set forth hereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, I accomplish by that procedure, through the use of those compositions, and in those products of which. I shall now describe exemplary embodiments.

Briefly, in the practice of my invention, I at-' tain its object through the imposition on the rear face of felt base material of a composition which, under the conditions of its application, attacks,

amalgamates with and penetrates to some extent.

both the felt and the bituminous saturant therein, forming a strong bond therewith. The composition itself in a dried condition is strong and tough and not liable to rupture from the stresses and'traffic which the applied material will encounter. The coating, however, is attackabl'e by the adhesives to be used in attachin the felt base material to the desired supporting surface, and to this extent is permeable by them and in effect porous to them. This action occurs irrespective of the nature of the binder material in the applied cements, i. e. whether it be soluble in or miscible with Water or whether it be of Waterproof character and soluble in or miscible with organic solvents only.

In other words, my compound is such as to show no repellency toward either water or organic solvents, to be permeable by them, and to show an affinity for adhesive binders whether of the water miscible or waterproof types. At the same time it forms a strong bond with the felt base.

In forming my composition, I use a binder.

which may be'referred to as having both water soluble and oil soluble components, while at the same time it has great inherent strength. The

j binder may be made up of discrete components,

'one attackable by. organic solvents and miscible with bitumen,'and another attackable by water and miscible with the binders of water glues, the

components being blended together injthe com- 7 position. It is desirable that both components have good binding strength. Partially saponified materials such as alkaline soaps of rosin and/or tall oil and/or other acidic resinous materials capable of being saponified, combine'the desired characteristics and are the binders I prefer to use. Most available and cheapest are the alka- Per cent Water 28.2 Dry rosin size 10.5 China clay 17.5 Slate flour; 35.0 Naphtha 8.8

In the above table the dry rosin size is substantially one-sixth of the dry weight of the composition.

line soaps of rosin, known commercially as rosin size. The size may be purchased as such, or the saponification may be carried on in the process of producing my compositions.

The saponification of rosinfis not a reaction which goes to completion'in the mass. On the contrary, an equilibrium is attained wherein a certain quantity of the resin soap exists in admixture with free rosin and free alkali. The specific quantities of these substances depend to some extent upon therelative quantities of rosin and alkali initially brought together; but I have found that the quantity of free rosin in commer cialrosin size is suitable for my purpose. By way'of example, I have successfully employed a commercial sodium'resinate, 19% of which is found to be soluble in' naphtha upon extraction. This naphtha soluble portion is the free rosin content of the rosin size. i The presence of free rosin in my composition provides a material not only compatible and miscible with bitumen, such as asphalt, but also. compatible and miscible with the binder ingredients of waterproof cements. On the other hand,

the sodium resinate in rosin'size is attackable by water andhas affinity for the binders in water type glues.

Where desired, I may add plasticizer to my binder. The plasticizei' may be any commercially available substance of this class providing it does 7 not decrease appreciably the permeability of the backing coating. to the applied adhesive, or the vehicle thereof.1 j a Icompound my binder with filler materials. These are preferably inert, although fillers which have a colloidal character, and form or assist in forming water dispersions may be used in whole or in part as desired. Otherwise, I have an unrestricted choice of fillers, preferring those which are inexpensive. .Fibrous 'fillers may be employed if desired, but I do not regard them as advantageous because they tend to interfere with thesmooth application of my coating to the felt base. Of the available inexpensive mineral fillers, I have found slate flour entirely satisfactory. T Pigments may be added to the composition as a may be thought desirable for appearance.

.- "Mycompositions, prior to application to the felt base material, have incorporated into them both an organic solvent of such nature as partially to extract the binder of the felt'base material or the binder of any coating applied thereto, and water. w 7

The proportions of binder and filler are such as to give" a. composition which, when dried, is well unified, by the. binder and is strong, but

which at the same time is porous or at least permeable to solvents. It is a composition whichis not repellent either to water or to organic -The percentages are by weight. The mixing thoroughly mixed. The proportions given provide a composition of paint-like consistency which may be applied'to felt base material by means of a doctorblade, roller, print block, brush, or spray. It may be applied to the felt 'base'when both are cold," or the felt base maybe coated so soon after saturation with the asphalt as to retain some residual heat.

When my composition is applied, the organic solvent attacks the bitumen in the felt base and causes it in part to permeate'the coating and to amalgamate or blend with-the free rosin therein. The blending of the bitumen with my coating renders the coating more flexible. The water in my composition serves not only to control its consistency in large part and to facilitate its application tothe felt base, but also prevents the formation of any condition in the coating such that after drying it is impermeable to the water vehicle of water type glues. It also softens the saponified material, unifying it, and causingit to act as a strong binder in the dried composition. l

My coating composition should be applied relatively thinly, but thickenough to insure satisfactory coverage. I have, for example, secured excellent results with the composition above applied so as to leave on the felt base about .35 pounds of the dried substance per square yard. A coating as heavy as .62 pound per square yard begins to show a lack of flexibility in that, if the felt base material is bent reversely around a short radius, unsightly cracks may form in the coating. Its utility and functioning is not, however, otherwise impaired.

'As indicated above, I may'also make compositions in which the partial saponification occurs In the above table the soda ash,caustic soda, rosin, and crude tall oil constitute substantially one-eighth of the dry weight. of the composition.

Again, the percentages and materials may be varied. In making such a composition, I place the water, soda ash and caustic in a steam-jacketed mixer and while applying heat, I add the annoys:

rosin and/or the tall nil and/or other resinous or fatty acids in the proper amount to produce sapo'nification to the desired 'degr'ee. I continue to stir and heat the mi x'ture until the reaction has proceeded to the desired length, whereupon I add the filler, with or without pigments, and incorporate them. naphtha or other volatile solvent ispreferably added last and under conditions to inse as little as possible of it by evaporation;

Under "the resins, I include both the so called wood rosins andthe s'o-called gum rosan example or a resinous material 'I ma use, I call attention to the 'commercially available Newport =Pembro B resin.

In the light of my teachings, results 'rh-ay be obtained by employing compositions comprise ing water and an organic solvent, a filler in proper qu-antity, "a water-insoluble 'loi'nder miscibl'e with asphalt, and a "water soluble binder miscible with the constituents of water glues, together with a material or materials capable of keeping these diverse substances in associa= tion.- It is also'possible to secure results by em ploy-mg along with the filler a water-insoluble binderjattaokable by organic "solvents {and misc-i:- ble with asphalt, andia colloidal material, a dis-. persing agent or a wetting agent in proper amount to make the dried composition readily wetted by water, and to keep the ing edients in suspension the water and organic solvent. I i" the water? proof binder is proportioned to the filler seas toprovide a porous oo' which is readily water permeable by reason the colloidal, dispersing or wetting agent, or a water soluble binder constituent may beomitted. Best results in my experience are obtained, however, 'by have ing present both a water-soluble and a waterinsoluble ingredient both of which are strong bind rs n l ce o t n p t a e s employ other organic solvents, depending upon the atu e of d t A an inexpensive and availablesolvent, and is very satisfactory when my coating composition is applied directly to felt base saturated with asphalt or other bitumens. I have also round that the exemplary compositions given above work very well when applied to ielt base previously coated with the usual backing layer, such as a backing composition comprising rosin, the ammonia salt of casein, and waxes and oils: ln th'e case Of other back coating-s snare .difli-cul tly attackable by naphtha, any appropriate organic solvent may be substituted, my compositions being ones with which organic solvents are readily miscible. I have even found it possible to apply my ceasing to e1 base materials previously coated with paints and the like containing polymerized drying the, using in this instance as the organic solvent a mixture of alcohol and acetone capable of attacking the paint vehicle.

It is not necessary that my compositions be applied as solid coatings for felt base materials. In the contrary, I have found interspaced areas of my coating, providing the aggregate area is large, serve very well. I may thus produce a felt base product having a first over-all backing coat of the usual character, such as that discussed above and in one color, and I may then apply my composition in a contrasting color and in interspaced areas to the backing coat by means of a printing roller. Again I may apply my composition in two or more coats of the same or of contrasting colors, as may be desired. I may be produced. Naphtha is form an over-all" seating For my'eoiaposie tion by knifing, sprayingfor ro'il'er coating, and then impose upon a discontinuous rover-stat or my composition, differently colored and in an attractive design, such ro'ir example as a 33259 k'et weave design.

compositions do not ii-01 m in themselves adhesives which tan serve to adhere 'felt base materials to supporting sumac-es. are designed to serve as an intermediary between v thefelt base and applied-adhesive, ffii iniiigfifi exeeptionahy'strongbond both, whether the applied adhesive of the water or waterproof type. coating serves to enable to produce a product'whieh adhered tem supporting surface means bf an ydf the avails able glues or cements without the blistering culty and lack 50f adhesion heretofore te'red. M-y ceatrng s'are relatively'thin' and, while they are porous in the sense of being permeauie to and forming strong with applied-ad? hesivafthey are not "so porous as to reader-me a plied product likely to Jose-its adhesive nnion through washing or Wetting. The iayer or composition is not rnore-attackable water than the adhesive to fasten thefelt place. Needle'ss'to say, where anapplied felt base are terial to be f requn tl y or 'oontinnousiy sabjeoted to water or ihoisture, as "in a shower room, a waterproef type eementsnouid be the adhesive. have round, however, that where such cements are used, a satisfactory water-arid moisture resistant result is obtained, and there is no tendeney my chm-positions,

: meation as set forth, to be affected by water or moisture.

It will be seen that through the nse of any composition, I am enabled to provide felt base materials er attractive appearance, and nomad,- he'sive as handled in are capable -of general and :ean be adhered to surtaces bjy means oi' 'ainy'type or cement. eSince my compositions be applied cold to the. felt base material, it is evidentthat they can, desired, be applied "on the' job, providing a isfactory drying time is given the :coated prod;- uct before theapplioatidn of adhesive. Int-is an advantage of my oompositions, however, that they may be applied the factory and during the formation "or felt goods, and that theytd notinterfere either with the usual operations or with handling opeiations. Materials made in aecordanee'with my process do not tend to or onset in the roll after having beienproperly dried.

My material's' ma be "employed ior acenegating to floors df 'wood, concrete or other mitteri als to wens or plaster, plasterboard, w bcar d n wood, or other base, and to articles oi ture and the like. The decorative surfacing may be one appropriate to the particular use; or where employed as wall coverings, my materials may be made without decorative facings, being coated on the face side only with a ground or base coat for the reception of paint or enamel, which may be applied after the adhesive union of the felt base to the wall, and may be renewed as circumstances warrant. My materials are thus especially advantageous for adhesion to prepared panels or walls of prefabricated dwellings. The

felt base products may if desired be treated for V flame-proofing and mildew proofing.

Modifications may be made in my invention without departing from the spirit of it. Having thus described my invention in certain exemplary tioned as a decorative coating.

embodiments, whatI claim as new and "desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

g 1. A felt'basematerial prepared for-adhesive union with a supportand comprising -a fibrous sheet. saturated with bitumenand bearing upon V which is water soluble,the total weight-of said binder components being substantially between one-sixth," and one-eighth of l the dry 7 weight I of said coating,- the first mentioned binder component being substantially 'oneefifth of the total weight of said binder components and said second mentioned binder component being substantially four-fifths of the total weight of said binder components whereby the water permeable character of saidfcoating is preserved, said coating alsocontaining an inert filler to increase its porosity, said first mentioned binder component being a material chosen from the group consisting of'rosin and tall'oil andsaidsecond menbinder component being a water" soluble soap of a material of said group. 7 Y J 2. The structure claimed in claimi' in which said binder components are respectively the unsaponifiedand saponified portions of rosin size.

j 3. The-structure claimed in claim 2 wherein 7 saidcoating isdiscontinuous in part at least and exists in-'closelyspaced areas on said felt base material. r

4.- The structure claimed in claim 2 wherein said coatingcontains a pigment and is applied 5. The structure claimed in claim 2 wherein said coating contains a wetting agent.

'- 6. A felt) base. material sheetsaturated with bitumen and bearing upon one'surface a coating comprising binder'com- V ponents one ofwhich-is water insoluble, misciblel with said bitumen and firmly bonded to, the

V bitumen saturant in saidbasaand theother of which is'water soluble, the total weight of said binder "components being substantially between one -sixtho and'one-eighth of the dry weight of said coating; the first mentioned binder component being substantially one-fifth'of the total Weight of 'said' binder components and said Seeond mentioned binder component being substanits porosity, said: first mentioned :binder component'being-a material chosen from a-group consisting of rosin and tall oil capable of forme ing water soluble soaps upon saponification, and

prepared foradhesive union withra sup'portaand: comprising a fibrous said second mentioned binder component being a water soluble soap thereof, saidbinder components actingltogether to form a strong coating permeable to the solvents'of and capable of bonding with both water soluble and Water insoluble adhesives. 2 I

7. A composition for application to bitumensaturatedfelt 'basematerials and being an oilin-water dispersion consisting of" binder components one of whichis water insoluble; and misci- Vble withthe bitumen saturant of felt .base materials and the other of which islwate r soluble, said first mentioned binder component being'a member chosen from a group consisting of rosin and tall oil capable of forming water soluble soaps upon 'saponification and said second mentioned binder component being a water soluble soap thereof, said, composition containing ,aninert filler, the total Weight of said binder components beingjsubstantially between one-sixth and oneeighth of the dry Weight of the solids in said coating composition; the first mentioned binder component being substantially one-fifth of the total Weight of said binder components and the said second mentioned binder component being substantially four-fifths of the total weight of said binder components and saidcomposition containing also water and an organic solvent for said first'mentioned binder component and for said bitument saturant the quantity of water being greater than the quantity of said organic solvent."

8. The composition claimed in 012mm v m which said binder components are respectively the unsaponified and saponified portions of rosin size.

9. A composition of matterfor the purpose de scribedcontaining the following materials in substantially the proportions set forth:; a

I Per cent and in which substantially one-fifth of rosin size is free rosin. 2

- RALPH F. SEEDORF.

REFERENCES CI-TED j The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED ST TES PATENTS Number v Name Diate 1,524,090. Finley 2 Jan. 27, 1925 r 1,610,959 Linesv Dec. 14, 1926 1,672,377 f Exley June 5, 1928 2,294,727 Dreshfield Sept. 1, 1942 said dry 

